Scuderia Ferrari (pronounced [skudeˈria ferˈrari]) is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.

The team was founded by Enzo Ferrari, initially to race cars produced by Alfa Romeo, though by 1947 Ferrari had begun building their own cars. It is the oldest surviving team in Grand Prix racing, having competed since 1932, and statistically the most successful Formula One team in history with a record of 15 drivers' championships. As a constructor, Ferrari has 16 constructors' championships.

Early history

The Scuderia Ferrari team was founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929 and became the racing team of Alfa Romeo, building and racing cars under the Alfa name. In 1938, Alfa Romeo management made the decision to enter racing under its own name, establishing the Alfa Corse organisation, which absorbed what had been Scuderia Ferrari.[6] Enzo Ferrari disagreed with this change in policy and was finally dismissed by Alfa in 1939. The terms of his leaving forbade him from motorsport under his own name, for a period of four years.

In 1939 Ferrari started work a racecar of his own, the Tipo 815 (eight cylinders, 1.5 L displacement). The 815s, designed by Alberto Massimino, were thus the first Ferrari cars. World War II put a temporary end to racing, and Ferrari concentrated on an alternative use for his factory during the war years, doing machine tool work.

After the war, Ferrari recruited several of his former Alfa colleagues and established a new Scuderia Ferrari, which would design and build its own cars.

Headquarters

The team was initially based in Modena from its pre-war founding until 1943, when Enzo Ferrari moved the team to a new factory in Maranello in 1943 [7], and both Scuderia Ferrari and Ferrari's roadcar factory remain at Maranello to this day. The team owns and operates a test track on the same site, the Fiorano Circuit built in 1972, which is used for testing road and race cars.

Team name and logo

The team is named after its founder, Enzo Ferrari. Scuderia is Italian for a stable reserved for racing horses[8] and is also commonly applied to Italian motor racing teams.

The prancing horse was the symbol on Italian World War I ace Francesco Baracca's fighter plane, and became the logo of Ferrari after the fallen ace's parents, good friends with Enzo Ferrari, asked him to continue his tradition of sportsmanship, gallantry and boldness.

Current team

The present Ferrari team competes in Formula One and is managed by team principal Stefano Domenicali. Pat Fry is the 'chassis' director and Luca Colajanni the PR manager.

The race drivers are Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, with Davide Rigon as the third/reserve driver. Alonso is contracted for seven seasons (2010–2016), having signed a four-year contract extension to his original three-year deal in May 2011.[9]

The team's current car for the 2012 season, the Ferrari F2012, was launched on 3 February 2012.

Grand Prix racing / Formula One

1940s

In 1947 Ferrari constructed the 12-cylinder, 1.5 L Tipo 125, the first racing car to bear the Ferrari name.

A Formula One version of the Tipo 125, the Ferrari 125 F1 was developed in 1948 and entered in several Grand Prix, at the time a World Championship had not yet been established.

1950s

In 1950, the Formula One World Championship was established, and Scuderia Ferrari entered in this first season. It is the only team to have competed in every season of the World Championship, from its inception to the current day.

In the 1957 Formula One season Fangio returned to Maserati. Ferrari, still using its aging Lancias, failed to win a race. Drivers Luigi Musso and the Marquis Alfonso de Portago joined Castellotti; Castellotti died while testing and Portago crashed into a crowd at the Mille Miglia, killing twelve and causing Ferrari to be charged with manslaughter.

In the 1961 Formula One season, with new rules for 1500 cm³, the team kept Hill, von Trips and Ginther, and débuted another Chiti designed car, the Ferrari 156 based on the Formula 2 car of 1960, which was dominant throughout the season. Ferrari drivers Hill and Von Trips competed for the championship. Giancarlo Baghetti joined in midseason and became the first driver to win on his debut race (the 1961 French Grand Prix). However, at the end of the season, von Trips crashed at the 1961 Italian Grand Prix and was killed, together with over a dozen spectators. Hill won the championship.

At the end of the 1961 season, in what is called "the walk-out", car designer Carlo Chiti and team manager Romolo Tavoni left to set up their own team, ATS. Ferrari promoted Mauro Forghieri to racing director and Eugenio Dragoni to team manager.

The new 158 model was at last finished in late 1963 and developed into raceworthiness for the 1964 Formula One season, featuring an eight-cylinder engine designed by Angelo Bellei. Surtees and Bandini were joined by young Mexican Pedro Rodríguez, brother of Ricardo (who had been killed at the end of 1962), to drive the new cars. Surtees won two races and Bandini one; the Ferrari was slower than Jim Clark's Lotus but its vastly superior reliability gave Surtees the championship and Bandini fourth place. In the last two races in North America, the Ferrari were entered by private team NART and painted in the US color-scheme of blue and white, as Enzo was protesting against the Italian sporting authority.

The 1965 Formula One season was the last year of the 1.5 L formula, so Ferrari opted to use the same V8 engine another year together with a new flat-12 which had debuted at the end of 1964; they won no races as Clark dominated in his now more reliable Lotus. Surtees and Bandini stayed on as drivers, with odd races for Rodriguez, Vaccarella and Bob Bondurant.

In the 1967 Formula One season, the team fired Dragoni and replaced him with Franco Lini; Chris Amon partnered Bandini to drive a somewhat improved version of the 1966 car. At the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix Bandini crashed and suffered heavy injuries when he was trapped under his burning car; several days later he succumbed to his injuries. Ferrari kept Mike Parkes and Scarfiotti, but Parkes suffered career-ending injuries weeks later at the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix and Scarfiotti temporarily retired from racing after witnessing his crash.

The 1968 Formula One season was better; Jacky Ickx drove with one win in France and several good positions, which gave him a chance at the World Championship until a practise crash in Canada, and Amon led several races but won none. At the end of the season, manager Franco Lini quit and Ickx went to the Brabham team. During the summer of 1968, Ferrari worked out a deal to sell his road car business to Fiat for $11 million; the transaction took place in early 1969, leaving 50% of the business still under the control of Ferrari himself.

During 1969 Formula One season, Enzo Ferrari set about wisely spending his new-found wealth to revive his struggling team; though Ferrari did compete in Formula One in 1969, it was something of a throwaway season while the team was restructured. Amon continued to drive an older model and Pedro Rodríguez replaced Ickx; at the end of the year Amon left the team.

1970s

In 1970, Jacky Ickx rejoined the team and won the Austrian Grand Prix, the Canadian Grand Prix and the Mexican Grand Prix to become second in the driver championship. Ferrari driver Pedro Rodríguez was killed in an Interserie sports car race at Norisring in Nuremberg, Germany, on 11 July 1971, at the wheel of a Ferrari 512M.

After three poor years, Ferrari signed Niki Lauda in 1974, and made the momentous decision to pull out of sportscar racing to concentrate upon F1. However, poor reliability with the 312B3 kept them from taking victory that year.

The new Ferrari 312T, developed fully with Niki Lauda, introduced in 1975 brought Ferrari back to winning ways, Niki taking the drivers' crown and Ferrari the constructors'.

In 1976 Lauda crashed at the German Grand Prix. Carlos Reutemann was hired as a replacement, so with Clay Regazzoni driving the other car, Ferrari had to run three cars in the 1976 Italian Grand Prix when Lauda returned unexpectedly soon (only six weeks after his accident). Lauda scored points in the races following his severe crash, but voluntarily withdrew from the season-ending Grand Prix at Fuji after two laps because of heavy rain, and James Hunt won the title by a single point.

In 1977 Lauda, having come back from his near fatal crash the previous year, took the title again for Ferrari (and the team won the Constructors' Championship), overcoming his more fancied, and favoured, team mate. His relations with the team, especially the team manager Mauro Forghieri continued to deteriorate, and he decided finally to leave for Brabham.

Jody Scheckter replacing the Lotus bound Argentinian in 1979, took the title, supported by Gilles Villeneuve (who dutifully followed the South African home at Monza, having been ordered to do so), and won the last World Drivers' Championship in a Ferrari until Michael Schumacher twenty one years later. The car was a compromise ground effect design due to the configuration of the Ferrari wide angle V12, which was overtaken in due course by the extremely successful Williams FW07, but not before racking up the necessary points to take both title that year.

1980s

Ferrari and Jody Scheckter's 1980 title defence was unsuccessful, as the team's rivals made up ground at the expense of the reigning champions. The team scored a meagre total of eight points all season, and Scheckter elected to retire at its conclusion. For the 1981 season, Ferrari signed Didier Pironi to partner Gilles Villeneuve and also introduced its own turbo-charged engine, which provided more power in a more compact design than the previous normally aspirated, twelve-cylinder arrangement. The season was a distinct improvement on the last, Villeneuve winning the Monaco and Spanish Grands Prix, but a potential championship challenge was stymied by the difficult handling of the chassis. However, the lessons learnt from the team's first racing experience with a turbo car in F1 prepared it well for 1982. Throughout this season, the Ferrari was the best package, in terms of a balance between speed and reliability.

The year was, however, marred by the loss of both of Ferrari's drivers. Team leader and favorite driver of Enzo Ferrari, Villeneuve, died in a crash during qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix, while Pironi suffered career-ending injuries before the German Grand Prix later in the season. Ferrari first called up Patrick Tambay, in place of the late Villeneuve, and later Mario Andretti in an effort to protect Pironi's lead in the championship, but to no avail. Ferrari did, however, win the constructors' championship. In that same year the Formula One works moved partially out of the original Maranello factory into its own autonomous facility, still in Maranello but directly next to the Fiorano test circuit.

Four wins by René Arnoux and Patrick Tambay won the team another constructors' title in 1983, but neither driver was consistent enough to challenge for the drivers' title. Patrick Tambay took an especially emotional victory at San Marino in front of the Tifosi, but left to join the Renault team at the end of the season. Michele Alboreto was hired for 1984 following his impressive performances during previous year driving a Cosworth-powered Tyrrell. He won the Belgian Grand Prix, but the team's performance was not competitive enough to challenge the dominant McLarens of Niki Lauda and Alain Prost. In the following year, however, Alboreto was Prost's closest challenger for the championship, leading it at one stage before the team's competitiveness slumped in the final races. Arnoux, meanwhile, fell out with the team and was replaced by Stefan Johansson after the first race of the season. 1986 continued the disappointing trend of the previous season as neither Alboreto nor Johansson could win a race, and never looked like doing so. For 1987, Johansson moved to McLaren and replaced by Gerhard Berger, who got the better of Alboreto as the season progressed and won the final two races of the championship as the car's form improved towards the end of the season. The team remained competitive into 1988, finishing second in the constructors' championship, but a long way behind McLaren, who once again dominated the season.

The 1988 season also witnessed the end of Enzo Ferrari's ownership of the team. On 14 August 1988, Enzo died at the age of 90. Fiat's share of the company was raised to 90% with Enzo's only remaining son, Piero Ferrari, inheriting the remaining share from his father. A week after Enzo's death, Berger and Alboreto completed an historic 1–2 at the Italian Grand Prix, the only time a team other than McLaren won a Grand Prix in the 1988 season. Berger dedicated the win in memory of the late Enzo Ferrari.

1989 saw the end of turbo-charging in Formula One. From this date, the formula was for 3.5 litre normally aspirated engines of no greater than 12 cylinders, which was a direct consequence of lobbying by Ferrari for the previous few years. The team went so far as to construct an Indycar, the Ferrari 637, as a threat to the FIA that if they did not get what they wanted, namely the allowance of V12 engines under the revised formula, they could take part in another series. Due to the expected extreme high revs and consequent narrow power band expected of the new engines, technical director John Barnard insisted upon the development of a revolutionary new gear-shifting arrangement – the paddle-operated, semi-automatic gearbox. In pre season testing it proved extremely troublesome, with newly arrived driver Nigel Mansell being unable to compete more than a handful of laps, but nonetheless they managed a debut win at the opening round in Brazil. Horrendous unreliability led to Berger being unable to score a point until a run of podiums at Monza, Estoril and Jerez including a win at Estoril. Mansell scored a memorable win at Budapest where he overtook world champion Ayrton Senna for the win after qualifying far down the field in twelfth. He then dedicated the race to the memory of Enzo Ferrari as the win came a year after the latter's death.

Schumacher's championship aspirations were ended by a leg-breaking accident in 1999. Eddie Irvine (pictured) stepped up to lead the team and only lost the drivers' title to Mika Häkkinen by two points, while Ferrari won its first constructors' championship since 1983.

The 1990s started in a promising way. Alain Prost replaced Gerhard Berger at Ferrari to partner Mansell for the season. As reigning world champion, Prost took over as the team's lead driver and was said to have played on Mansell's inferiority complex. Mansell recalls one incident where at the 1990 British Grand Prix, the car he drove did not handle the same as in the previous race where had taken pole position, and later found out from team mechanics that Prost saw Mansell as having a superior car and had them swapped without Mansell knowing.[12] Prost won 5 races and pushed Ayrton Senna to the controversial penultimate race in Japan, where a collision forced him to settle for second. A disgruntled Mansell left the team at the end of the season.

Mansell's replacement was Frenchman Jean Alesi, who had been impressive during the previous two years at Tyrrell. However, Ferrari had entered a downturn in 1991, partially as their famous V12 engine was no longer competitive against the smaller, lighter and more fuel efficient V10s of their competitors. Prost won no races, only getting onto the podium five times. He afterwards publicly criticized the team, described his car as harder to drive than "a truck",[13] and was fired prior to the end of the season, right before the Australian Grand Prix.[14] Prost was replaced by ItalianGianni Morbidelli. The team won no races in 1991–1993.

Popular driver Gerhard Berger returned to Ferrari in 1993 to help it out of the doldrums. That year, Berger was instrumental in hiring Jean Todt as team principal, laying the foundations for the team's future successes. With the Ferrari 412T, Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi proved the car's competitiveness throughout the two seasons, with a brace of podium places and four pole positions. Bad luck limited the number of wins to one each for both Berger (1994 German Grand Prix) and Alesi (1995 Canadian Grand Prix), particularly Alesi who was in a position to win at Monza and the Nürburgring in 1995, but the car was a solid and competitive proposition.

In 1996, Ferrari made a landmark decision in its history by hiring two-time defending world champion Michael Schumacher for an astronomical salary of around $30 million a year. Schumacher also brought with him the nucleus of his hugely successful Benetton team, mainly in the form of Ross Brawn (technical director) and Rory Byrne (chief designer). Teaming up with Jean Todt (team principal), they set about rebuilding the Scuderia. After Berger and Alesi, who were sent to Benetton in exchange, the traditional V12 had to go also, in favour of a more modern V10 engine, as the rules reduced the capacity from 3500 cc to 3000 anyway. At the same time, Eddie Irvine from Jordan was hired.

While these huge changes resulted in a very unreliable car, Schumacher did manage to score 3 wins in the 1996 season, all of which were memorable. In torrential conditions at Spain, after almost stalling and dropping to ninth, Schumacher went on to win the race by a comfortable margin to Jean Alesi. Following this, Ferrari had 2 incredibly embarrassing retirements at France and Canada, both before the races had even started. However, at Spa-Francorchamps Schumacher used right timed pit-stops to fend off the Williams of Jacques Villeneuve. Following that, at Monza, Schumacher scored a momentous win in front of the tifosi. As reliability greatly improved the Ferrari became the second strongest looking package in the hands of Schumacher ending with a strong fight with the Williams of champion Damon Hill for the win at Suzuka.

For 1997, the increased reliability of the previous year's development, the F310B, led to some very strong performances when faster cars, notably the McLaren Mercedes of David Coulthard and Mika Häkkinen, retired. Schumacher took memorable wet weather wins at Monaco and Belgium, combined with outstanding drives at France and Japan, to force the WilliamsRenault of Jacques Villeneuve to a last round title fight. However, Schumacher was disqualified from the 1997 standings for swerving into the car of Villeneuve who attempted to pass him down the inside of the Dry Sac corner of the Jerez circuit.

Following the dramatic 1997 season, Ferrari came out with an all new car to fit the new regulations for 1998. Although it was a competitive package, the McLaren–Mercedes MP4/13 was most often stronger. Schumacher won six races that season including three in a row at Canada, France and Great Britain. The Hungarian Grand Prix was won after a tactical master-stroke by Brawn decided to make the car run a 3-stop strategy as opposed to McLaren's 2. Schumacher then went on to lead Irvine home to Ferrari's first 1–2 at Monza since the memorable 1988 race after Enzo Ferrari's death. Schumacher lost the title to McLaren's Mika Häkkinen at Suzuka after he stalled on the front row then suffered a mid-race puncture. Irvine was fourth in the championship with Ferrari second in the constructors' title.

Irvine had been forced to play second fiddle to Schumacher, losing out on points and positions in order to place Schumacher higher in the Drivers' Championship, in the rare occasions when he was in front, notably Suzuka 1997 which led critics to remark "So Irvine can drive!". The leg injury of Michael Schumacher in 1999 reversed the roles however. It appeared to be the year Ferrari would regain the championship with Ferrari winning 3 of the first 4 races of the season. While Ferrari did win the constructor crown that year, a crash at the Silverstone Circuit in the British Grand Prix resulted in Schumacher breaking a leg and missing 7 races of the season, and being replaced by Mika Salo. The new championship challenger was Eddie Irvine, who once again took the Ferrari challenge to the final round in Japan before missing out to Häkkinen who also scored more points in the races where Schumacher had taken part.

2000s

In 2000 Schumacher had a close battle with rival Mika Häkkinen of McLaren but won the championship in the Ferrari F1-2000, winning 9 races out of 17 that year. He was Ferrari's first World Driver's Champion in 21 years, since Jody Scheckter in 1979. Teammate Rubens Barrichello finished fourth in the championship, taking his maiden win at the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim after Schumacher was taken out in the first corner and Barrichello qualified 18th.

In 2001 Schumacher won the World Championship with four races to go, having claimed nine victories. Teammate Barrichello finished third in the championship. This was the first year in which the notorious A1-Ring incident occurred, where Barrichello was told to let Schumacher through for second place by team boss Todt, to the consternation of the FIA, fans and media.

In 2002, Schumacher and Barrichello dominated F1, the Ferrari duo winning 15 out of 17 races (Schumacher 11, Barrichello 4). However, their run was tainted by a second A1-Ring incident. In a replay of 2001, Barrichello was asked to give way to Schumacher, except this time for the win. An embarrassed Schumacher then pushed Barrichello to the top step of the podium, and was subsequently fined $1 million by the FIA for interfering with podium procedures. This debacle eventually led to the banning of team orders. Schumacher matched Juan Manuel Fangio's record of five world championships, set back in the 1950s.

In 2003, Ferrari's domination of F1 was brought to a halt at the first race, the Australian Grand Prix, where for the first time in 3 years, there was no Ferrari driver on the podium. Rivals McLaren had an early lead in the championship, but Ferrari closed the gap by the Canadian Grand Prix. The drivers' championship went down to the last race, the Japanese Grand Prix, between Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren) and Michael Schumacher; Schumacher won the championship by two points, surpassing Fangio's record. In 2003, F1 magazine reported that Ferrari's budget was $443,800,000.[15]

2004 saw a return of Ferrari's dominance. Ferrari teammates Schumacher and Barrichello finished first and second respectively in the driver championship, and Ferrari easily wrapped up the constructors' championship. Schumacher won 13 of the 18 races, and 12 of the first 13 of the season – both F1 records. Barrichello won two of the other races.

2005 saw a change of fortune for Ferrari. The team started the year with the F2004M, a modified version of the previous year's car pending full development of their new car (F2005), the introduction of which was scheduled to be race 5 in Barcelona. The car lacked pace in comparison with other teams (particularly McLaren and Renault who started the year with brand new cars). Alarmed by poor performances in Australia and Malaysia the new F2005 was rushed into service in round 3 at Bahrain. This move saw Schumacher retire for the first time due to mechanical failure since Hockenheim 2001 ending a run of 58 Grands Prix without technical failure.

The poor relative performance of the team's Bridgestone tyres was also cited as a reason for Ferrari's lack of performance in 2005. The Bridgestone tyres failed to give sufficient grip in qualifying and were not as durable as their Michelin rivals during races. However, the tyres provided for the San Marino Grand Prix were more competitive, and the Bridgestone tyres supplied for the United States Grand Prix allowed the three Bridgestone teams to race, while the seven Michelin teams were forced to withdraw.

Near the end of the 2005 season, Rubens Barrichello announced that he was leaving the team at the end of the year and joining the Honda F1 team. Barrichello's departure was mostly due to his dissatisfaction with his continued "number two" status at Ferrari to Michael Schumacher. Ferrari named then Sauber driver Felipe Massa as Barrichello's replacement for the following season.

2006

With the 'one set of tyres per race' rule no longer in force, Ferrari, after a poor 2005 and a troubled start to 2006, were again close contenders for both Drivers' and Constructors' titles by the latter part of the 2006 season. Unlike some recent seasons, they started 2006 with their new car, the 248 F1.

At the Bahrain Grand Prix Schumacher finished second. At the Malaysian Grand Prix problems with the engine's piston rings meant that both drivers had to change their engines, Massa needing two changes (a ten-position penalty at the start of the race is enforced for an engine change prior to a legal engine change). In Australia both drivers crashed out of the race. At the San Marino Grand Prix Schumacher took pole position in qualifying and won the race. At the European race, Schumacher won again. At the Spanish Grand PrixFernando Alonso won, with Schumacher finishing second.

At Monaco Schumacher's qualifying times were deleted for controversially stopping his car during the qualifying session. At Turkey, Massa achieved his first ever pole and victory. At Monza, Schumacher scored a win at Ferrari's home Grand Prix, and announced his retirement effective at the end of the 2006 season. Ferrari also announced that Räikkönen would replace Schumacher in 2007.

Schumacher won the Chinese Grand Prix in wet conditions and draw level on points with Alonso although Ferrari lost the lead of the Constructor's Championship to Renault.

At the Japanese Grand Prix, Ferrari again showed superiority in the qualifying stages, lapping up to 1.4s faster than the nearest competitors. Massa qualified first and Schumacher second. However, in the race Alonso capitalised on Massa's early puncture and took second place, before benefiting from Schumacher's retirement with engine problems and going on to win.

At the final race of the season in Brazil Massa claimed pole position but Schumacher only qualified tenth, after a technical problem in qualifying. The race was a dramatic one, with Schumacher finishing fourth after having come from the back of the field (following his puncture) and setting the fastest lap. This was Schumacher's final F1 race, prior to his comeback in 2010 after 3 years in retirement. Massa won (the first victory for a Brazilian driver in home soil since Ayrton Senna in 1993) but the team failed to clinch either the Drivers' or Constructors' championships, which as in 2005 went to Alonso and Renault respectively.

Ferrari launched a new car, the F2007 for the 2007 season. Kimi Räikkönen won the inaugural race of the 2007 season at Albert Park, becoming the first Ferrari driver to win on his début since Nigel Mansell. Scuderia Ferrari went on to win the 2007 Constructors championship, and Kimi Räikkönen took the driver's championship. Räikkönen won 6 races, with Massa winning three times.

Ferrari attracted some criticism for running a moveable floor system in Melbourne, later confirmed to be illegal by the FIA after a rule clarification, though no punishment was applied.[16][17][18]

There was more controversy in July 2007, when a Ferrari employee, Nigel Stepney was dismissed by Scuderia Ferrari for his involvement in an espionage incident.[19] Later the same day Ferrari announced it was taking legal action against Stepney and a McLaren engineer named by Autosport.com as Mike Coughlan;[20] A Ferrari press release stated:

“

Ferrari announces it has recently presented a case against Nigel Stepney and an engineer from the Vodafone McLaren–Mercedes team with the Modena Tribunal, concerning the theft of technical information. Furthermore, legal action has been instigated in England and a search warrant has been issued concerning the engineer. This produced a positive outcome.[21]

”

[22] On 6 July Honda F1 released a statement confirming that Stepney and Coughlan approached the team regarding "job opportunities" in June 2007.[23] Since the revelation of Coughlan's involvement in the affair McLaren provided a full set of drawings and development documents (estimated to be around 800 pages) to the FIA, detailing all updates made to the team's chassis since the incident occurred at the end of April.[23]

McLaren were excluded from the 2007 Constructors Championship.

After the end of the 2007 season, Ferrari President Luca Cordero di Montezemolo announced a new structure for the team, with Jean Todt departing the team principal role and moving up to his senior role as CEO of the company, Stefano Domenicali took over as team principal as Ross Brawn declined a return following his sabbatical (he became Team Principal of Honda F1), Aldo Costa as technical director and Mario Almondo as Operations Director.[24] It had been reported that this completed a shift in Ferrari personnel where the older foreign leadership was replaced with a new one composed mostly of Italians.[25]

2008

Scuderia Ferrari's car for the 2008 season was the Ferrari F2008. In the first race of 2008, Ferrari only scored one point, as Ferrari's worst performance in a season-opening race since they drew a blank in the 1992 South African Grand Prix.

At the Malaysian Grand Prix, Kimi Räikkönen won the team's first race of the season. In qualifying, Massa had taken pole-position, with Räikkönen placed second. Massa took an early lead but was overtaken by his teammate at the first round of pit stops. It looked to be an easy 1–2 but Massa spun off into a gravel trap midway through the race and retired, with Räikkönen going on to win. Ferrari went to Bahrain confident, as they had tested there during the winter. Massa was quick in Q1 and Q2 but was pipped to pole by BMW's Robert Kubica, with Räikkönen fourth. The Brazilian took the lead at the start, with his team-mate following on to make a 1–2.

Round 4 saw the Spanish Grand Prix, where qualifying was dominated by Ferrari and McLaren. When it came to the race, the Ferraris shot out in front, with Räikkönen leading Massa to the finish. In the qualifying for the Turkish Grand Prix, Massa beat Hamilton to the pole position and on the Sunday Massa got away from the line well, holding his lead down to turn 1 with Hamilton and Räikkönen pushing from behind. Massa managed to hold onto his lead throughout the race, taking the win in Turkey for the third year in a row, with Hamilton leading Räikkönen home. Out of a possible 30 points in three races Massa had scored 28.

Monaco saw a race, in the early laps, between Hamilton and Massa, until Hamilton clipped a wall on the exit of the chicane, allowing Massa to secure his lead. Pit stop strategy for Hamilton, combined with a slow third pit stop for Massa, resulted in Massa dropping to third on the podium. When the Formula One calendar took them to North America at the Canadian Grand Prix, the Ferraris had a poor qualifying show followed by a tawdry race for Räikkönen when he was shunted from behind by Hamilton, who was in turn shunted by Rosberg, while waiting for the light at the end of the pit lane. Massa appeared to lack pace during the race, though he proceeded up the pack as other cars retired.

At the French Grand Prix Ferrari got a 1–2 in qualifying, and it stayed that way during the race until Kimi Räikkönen's exhaust broke, causing Massa to take the lead, and for him to hold up drivers he'd lapped. He eventually finished second.

The British Grand Prix took place in the wet, with Massa qualifying tenth and Räikkönen third. Massa spun five times during the race and Räikkönen three. Räikkönen finished fourth and Massa thirteenth. After this Massa, Räikkönen, and Lewis Hamilton were tied at 48 points.

At Hockenheim, Räikkönen qualified fourth and Massa second. Lewis Hamilton took a big lead in the first stint from Felipe Massa, but had the gap reduced in the first safety car period. Massa and Räikkönen pitted in when the safety car was out, but Hamilton pitted afterwards and lost his lead. Nelson Piquet, Jr. had jumped from seventeenth to second and was in front of Massa. Hamilton chased both down and won the race with Massa third and Räikkönen sixth. On the weekend of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Massa qualified third and Räikkönen sixth. Massa took the lead at the first corner and stayed roughly five seconds ahead of Hamilton for most of the race. Three laps before the end of the race Massa retired with engine failure from first place. Heikki Kovalainen won the race and Räikkönen finished third.

Over the Valencia weekend, Massa got pole position with Räikkönen fourth. Massa took the lead at the start and held it for the entire race, but Räikkönen dropped to fifth at the start. At his second pit stop Räikkönen left the pit box with the fuel hose still attached and injured a mechanic; he then retired two laps later with engine failure. At Massa's second pit stop, he was released alongside the Force India of Adrian Sutil and had to back off and let him pass. After the race Massa was fined 10,000 euros for unsafe release.

At the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix, Massa qualified on pole with Räikkönen third on the start grid. Massa led until the first pitstop proved a disaster when he drove off with the fueling rig still attached. The rigging snapped knocking a pit mechanic to the ground. Massa was then forced to stop at the end of the pit lane and wait for his mechanics to run from their garage at the entrance of the pit lane to where he was to remove his ripped off fueling rig, causing Massa to lose minutes of time and thus dropping of contention for the race. Video replay revealed the Ferrari mechanic operating the automatic pit light signal system suffering because of the pressure of a race. He was later seen crying because of his mistake. Räikkönen eventually crashed out four laps before the end of the Grand Prix with Massa finishing second-to-last.[26]

At the Japanese Grand Prix Räikkönen finished third, while Massa finished seventh. More importantly, Lewis Hamilton finished out of the points in twelfth, meaning that Massa closed to just five points behind Hamilton in the World Championship.

At the Chinese Grand Prix, it was a very different story. In qualifying Räikkönen was second and Massa was third with Hamilton on pole. Ferrari came second and third in the race, over 10 seconds behind the victor who was Hamilton. Massa was second, owing to Räikkönen letting him through because of the championship situation.

On 27 October 2008 Ferrari issued a statement saying that they would review their participation in Formula 1 at the end of the 2009 season because the FIA said for the 2010, 2011 and 2012 seasons they wanted to introduce standardised engines. Ferrari have been in Formula 1 since it began in 1950.

Felipe Massa went into the final grand prix of the season the Brazilian Grand Prix with the possibility of winning the drivers' championship. Massa won the race, but Lewis Hamilton won the championship after an overtaking move in the final corner of the race. The Ferrari team were shown to be confused about this result, initially believing that Massa was world champion.

One controversial point about Ferrari's 2008 season was their use of a "traffic light" system to signal to their drivers to leave the pits after a pit-stop. This system was introduced and used only by Ferrari; all other teams continued with the older "lollipop" system in races.[27] The lights could be operated either automatically (based on the fuel hose being removed) or manually by pressing a button. At the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix the system had to be operated manually due to the large number of cars entering the pit lane during a caution period. During Felipe Massa's stop the mechanic controlling the system pressed the button too early, causing Massa to drive away with the fuel pipe still attached. After this incident Ferrari reverted to the old lollipop system for the remaining three races of the season.[27] and for the 2009 season.[27]

In 2009, there were substantial changes to the Formula 1 regulations, particularly relating to car aerodynamics and Ferrari's car, the F60 was generally outclassed by those of teams such as Red Bull Racing and Brawn GP. It has been suggested that Ferrari concentrated much of their efforts in 2008 on developing their current car for the close battle for the World Championship, and were thus unable to devote as much attention to their 2009 car as some other teams were doing.

Ferrari scored no points until Kimi Räikkönen's 6th place at the fourth race of the season at Bahrain, which made 2009 the worst start to a season in the history of Scuderia Ferrari. Ferrari's form improved later in the year, and Räikkönen achIeved five podium finishes, including a victory in the Belgian Grand Prix. Felipe Massa's form also improved, with consistent top 6 finishes in rounds 5 to 10 culminating in a third place at the German Grand Prix. At the following Grand Prix in Budapest, Massa was involved in a freak accident in qualifying. A spring from another car hit Massa's helmet, knocking him unconscious while travelling at 162 mph (261 km/h). He suffered concussion and head injuries and was unable to compete in any further Grand Prix in 2009.

Michael Schumacher revealed an interest in returning to Ferrari from retirement as a temporary stand in for Massa, but these plans were curtailed by a neck injury sustained in a motorbike accident earlier in the year. Massa's place was replaced first by Luca Badoer and then Giancarlo Fisichella – both failed to score any points as they struggled to adapt to the car. Ferrari finished 4th in the Constructors' Championship.

2010s

The 2010 season started with Fernando Alonso leading a Ferrari 1–2, with Massa second, at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix. However, after seven races Ferrari were lying third in the Constructors Championship, following a string of low points finishes. After the 2010 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, Ferrari remained third in the constructors championship following a controversial 1–2 finish, where leader Felipe Massa was seemingly asked by the team to give the position to Fernando Alonso. The enforced and deliberate swapping of places reminded many fans of the 2002 incident where Rubens Barrichello was asked to cede the lead of the Austrian Grand Prix to eventual winner Michael Schumacher, who invited Barrichello onto the first-place spot on the podium after gauging the spectators reaction, trying to soften the blow of the final result. That incident led to a ban on team orders. Thus, the Stewards deemed Ferrari to be in breach of both that regulation and guilty of bringing the sport into disrepute, fining the team $100,000 – the maximum penalty race stewards can impose. The incident was also referred to the FIA World Motor Sport Council for review. Alonso won further races at Monza, Singapore and the inaugural race in Korea as he finished the season as runner-up to Sebastian Vettel.

Ferrari launched its 2011 car, the Ferrari 150° Italia at Maranello on 28 January 2011, with Alonso driving the car for the first time at the Fiorano Circuit the same day. After Ford declared intentions to sue over the use of the F150 name – under which the car had been launched – Ferrari began referring to the car as the "F150th Italia".[28] In March 2011, the car's name was changed again to "150º Italia", with the Italian languageordinal indicator º being used to replace the English language -th.[29] Ford and Ferrari also settled their legal matter, asking for the case to be dismissed at a court in Detroit.[30]

Relationship with governing body

Ferrari did not enter the first ever race of the championship, the 1950 British Grand Prix due to a dispute with the organisers over "start money". In the 1960s Ferrari withdrew from several races in 'strike' actions.

In latter years, Scuderia Ferrari has gained a unique place in Formula One as one of the most popular and historic teams, which the team have often exploited in negotiating with the sports governing body.

In 1987, Ferrari considered abandoning Formula One for the American Indycar series. This threat was used as a bargaining tool with the FIA – Enzo Ferrari offered to cancel the Indycar Project and commit to Formula One on the condition that the technical regulations were not changed to exclude V12 engines. The FIA agreed to this, and the Indycar project was shelved, although a car, the Ferrari 637 had already been constructed.

In 2009 it emerged that Ferrari had an FIA-sanctioned veto on the technical regulations.

Team orders controversy

Team orders have proven controversial at several points in Ferrari's history.

In 1982, at the San Marino Grand Prix, the two Ferraris were leading with Gilles Villeneuve ahead of Didier Pironi. The team gave an order for the cars to slow down to reduce the risk to the cars, which was apparently interpreted differently by the two drivers. Villeneuve was angered when Pironi overtook and won the race. Villeneuve's anger at what he saw as betrayal by his team mate is often considered to have been a contributory factor to his fatal accident in qualifying at the next race, the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix.

Throughout Michael Schumacher's time at Ferrari, he was given preferential treatment over his team mates (Eddie Irvine, Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa). This strategy was often unpopular with fans of the sport and the rival teams, and came to a head at the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix, at which Barrichello who had led almost the entire race was ordered to give way to Schumacher, which he did at the last corner of the final lap. This was a particularly unpopular move, as it occurred at an early stage in the season, when both drivers had a chance to win the drivers' championship.

At the 2010 German Grand Prix, Ferrari informed Massa that Fernando Alonso was quicker than him, and after two repeats of this information, Massa allowed Alonso to pass him. This exchange of information has widely been interpreted as a team order for Massa to allow Alonso to pass him. The result led to Alonso winning, with Massa finishing second and Sebastian Vettel taking the final place on the podium. Ferrari were fined the maximum penalty available to the stewards, $100,000, for breach of regulations and for bringing the sport into disrepute. Ferrari said they would not contest the fine. The team were referred to the FIA World Motor Sport Council, where the Council upheld the view of the stewards, but did not take any further action.[31][32]

F1 team sponsorship

A Ferrari truck displaying Ferrari's sponsors

The Ferrari Formula One team was resistant to sponsorship for many years and it was not until 1977 that the cars began to feature the logo of the Fiat group (which had been the owners of the Ferrari company since 1969). Until the 1980s, the only other companies whose logos appeared on Ferrari's F1 cars were technical partners such as Magneti Marelli and Agip.

In September 2005 Ferrari announced they had signed an extension of their sponsorship arrangement with Philip Morris International until 2011. This comes at a time when advertising of tobacco sponsorship has become illegal in the European Union and other major teams have withdrawn from relationships with tobacco companies – McLaren have ended their eight year relationship with West. In reporting the deal, F1 Racing magazine judged it to be a 'black day' for the sport, putting non-tobacco funded teams at a disadvantage and discouraging other brands from entering a sport still associated with tobacco. The magazine estimates that in the period between 2005 and 2011 Ferrari will receive $1 billion from the agreement.

In December 2005 Vodafone announced that it was withdrawing its sponsorship of Ferrari in favour of title sponsorship of McLaren beginning in 2007. The Times said Ferrari were "stunned" by the decision.[33] Vodafone's position on the car has been taken over by Telecom Italia's broadband Alice brand.

Other companies currently sponsoring Scuderia Ferrari include: Fiat (Fiat car brand, part of the Fiat car group which is the largest stakeholder (85%) in Ferrari), Shell – Royal Dutch/Shell Group, Alice, Pirelli (as tyre supplier, having taken over from Bridgestone in 2010 when they withdrew), AMD, Acer, and several others among which are Mubadala Development Company (an investment company owned by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi which also owns 5% of Ferrari shares as of the 2007 season), Etihad Airways (until 2011), and Piaggio Aero. As part of the deal with Acer, they are allowed to sell Ferrari-badged laptops. On the other hand, in early 2009 semiconductor chipmaker AMD announced it had decided to drop their sponsorship of the team and is just waiting for its contract to expire after its former Vice President and Sales Executive (who was an avid fan of motorsports) had left the company.[34]

On 10 September 2009, Ferrari announced that they would be sponsored by Santander from 2010 on a five year contract.[35] It is believed that Santander will pay around €40 million ($56.5 million, £35 million) per season to sponsor Ferrari.

On 8 July 2011, it was announced that the 'Marlboro' section of their official team name had been removed from the British Grand Prix onwards, following complaints from fans and sponsorship regulators. The team will now be called 'Scuderia Ferrari'.[36]

Formula Two

Sportscar racing

From the late 1940s to the early 1970s, Ferrari competed in sports car racing with great success, winning the World Sportscar Championship 13 times. Ferrari scored early successes in sportcars, taking wins in the 1950 and 1951 Mille Miglia, although the 1951 vistory resulted in a lengthy litigation when Ascari crashed through a barrier and killed a local doctor.

In 1953, the World Sportscar Championship was established, and Scuderia Ferrari along with other manufacturerers such as Aston Martin, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar began to enter multiple factory backed cars in races such as the Le Mans 24 Hours. Ferrari launched a large range of sports racers over the next three years. This included the traditional compact V12-powered 166 MM and 250 MM, the larger V12 290, 340, and 375 MM and 315, 335, and 410 S, the four-cylinder 500, 625, 750, and 860 Monzas, and the six-cylinder 118 and 121 LM. With this potent lineup, Ferrari was able to claim six of the first seven WSC titles: 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957, and 1958.

With the introduction of the Sports Protoypes class, Ferrari developed the P series, but 1970s were to be the last decade Ferrari entered as a works effort in sports car racing. After an uninspired performance in the 1973 F1 World Championship, Enzo Ferrari stopped all development of sports cars in prototype and GT racing at the end of the year, in order to concentrate on Formula One.

Ferrari cars were raced in a range of classes such as GT Racing by other entrants, but not by the factory Scuderia Ferrari team. In the 1990s, Ferrari returned to Sports prototypes as a constructor with the 333SP with some success, although Scuderia Ferrari itself never raced this car.

Although World Championship races held in 1952 and 1953 were run to Formula Two regulations, constructors who only participated during this period are included herein to maintain Championship continuity. Constructors whose only participation in the World Championship was in the Indianapolis 500 races between 1950 and 1960 are not listed.